A new national film competition has been launched aimed at challenging stereotypes of “offensive” films – with all film entries developed based on public tweets. M&M’s #FilmsYouWantToSee campaign was created to support a sense of belonging for everyone in the arts and entertainment industry, and participants were tasked with creating a film concept based on a post they read on Twitter.
The final of the inaugural #FilmsYouWantToSee competition took place at M&M’s World in London yesterday (Thursday) – and the winning filmmaker received £25,000 for bringing her film concept to life.
Rising British-Jamaican star Monique Needham made a trailer for her movie Sunday Dinner, inspired by a tweet that openly called out the LQBTQ+, who is proud of her sexuality, playing a high school jock.
The story is about Maya, a young British-Jamaican woman, who enlists the help of her grandmother to keep the rest of her family in line when she brings her friend home to meet them.
Writer-director Monique has produced two short films since 2019, which have both been screened and praised at international film festivals.
She is excited about expanding the types of stories told about her community.
After her win, Monique said, “It was important to me that people see themselves, their ways, and their everyday lives in a connected way that, I think, hasn’t been done before. So grateful to M&Ms for giving me the opportunity to tell my story my way.”
M&M’s #FilmsYouWantToSee was born after research conducted in September 2022 found that 43 percent of Gen-Z Brits feel they can’t relate to the characters on the big screen.
And more than half (57 percent) felt stereotypes were offensive and exaggerated in films.
Alongside Monique, the #FilmsYouWantToSee 2023 finalist also saw three finalists showcase their film concept trailers – each winning the £7,500 runner-up prize for developing a full-length trailer for their film.
Among the three remaining finalists was Ethan Ross, a student at Bournemouth University whose concept for “Pink Glove” was a suspenseful thriller that follows an LGBTQIA+ spy agency looking for justice after an attempted assassination of a colleague.
Gay Chakarov and Omri Dagan also impressed the judges with their cop-based comedy Ashraf, which challenged white privilege and police profiling of minorities in a world where cops catch white people for petty crimes.
“Do It for Jordan” by Natasha Mwansa told the story of Maria who, after a heart transplant, finds herself having feelings for a mysterious woman – who turns out to be the ex-lover of her heart’s new former owner.
“We are very pleased with Monique,” said Kerry Cavanaugh, March Business Unit Director. “It has been a pleasure to see her concept, ‘Sunday Dinner,’ evolve from a 90-second trailer into a fantastic short film.
Monique’s film is fun, intelligent, and gently deconstructs stereotypes about LGBTQIA+ and ethnic minorities. We hope Monique’s short film sparks important discussions about belonging and representation on film.
“The M&M’S FUNd initiative was created to help nurture a world where we all feel we belong, and all of our directors have captured this mission in their work.
“We can’t wait to see what’s next for Monique and all the other directors who have shared their experience and expertise with us over the past few months.”
For more information, including where to see the winning film, visit here.
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